Improvement in railway-chairs



I. WELLS I Railway-Chair.

No 203,570. Patented May 14', 1878.

INVENTOR w a 1 r ATTo RN E Y UNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC WELLS, OF EAST HAMPTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HISRIGHT TO JAMES F. POST, OF WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, AND DAVID D.BARBER, OF SUMTER COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA.

Specification forming part of LettersPatent No. 203,570, dated May 14,1878; application file-d February 1, 1878.

e To all whom it may concemr Be it known that I, IsAAo WELLS, of EastHampton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Chairs; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements 'in railway-chairs and it consistsin a wroughtmetal chair adapted to support.the joints of railroad-rails,and bridge or span two or more sleepers at such points, the said chairhaving three independent bearings on its upper surface and a centraldepending flange on its lower surface, the bearings on the upper surfaceserving for the edges and center of the base of the rail, while thedepending flange on the lower surface of the chair serves to impartincreased strength and stifi'ness to the central portion of the chair,and to prevent the lateral displacement of the same when in use.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, in perspective, of myimproved chair supporting ordinary rails at their joint. Fig. 2 is aview, in perspective, of the chair detached from the rails; and Fig. 3is a transverse section taken through the chair and rails.

A represents a wrought-metal railway-chair, which is adapted to supportrailway-rails at their joints, and to be rolled into the desired form.The upper surface of the chair is provided with three independentbearings, F, C, and F, all located in the same horizontal plane. Thecentral bearing, C, is located directly beneath the web of the rail, andserves to sustain the greater portion of the weight of the passingtrains. The side bearings F F serve to support the edges of therailflange, and thus afford a broad and extended bearing for the rail,and prevent the same from rocking. Bearings F F extend under the flangesof the rail only so far as is necessaryto resist lateral or leveragestrains on the rail, the weight of the train being taken chiefly bybearing C and depending rib E, hereinafter described. Said bearings F Fare thus separated from the central bearing C by grooves B B, which alsoserve as receptacles for sand or grit that may enter between the chairand rail, and thus insure a firm bearing of the rail on thechair-bearings at all times.

The grooves B B also enable the chair to be made much lighter than theordinary chair, and yet possess an equal amount of strength, owingto thefact that the rail is fully supported at all points where the chair issubjected to strainnamely, at its center and sides.

The outer edges of the chair are provided with raised flanges D. D,which extend up flush with the upper surface of the flange of the rail,and thus prevent any lateral displacement of the latter; and as thesides of the chair are vertical, they allow the heads of the rail-spikes(made sufficiently broad for the purpose) to be driven firmly againstthe upper surfaces of the rail-flange and upper edges of thechair-flanges D D. The lower central rib E is located directly beneaththe central bearing C, and serves to prevent the lateral displacement,and to add to the longitudinal rigidity of the chair.

I am aware that it is not new with me to provide a railway-chair with alower depending rib to prevent the lateral displacement of the chair,and add to its longitudinal rigidity; but to secure the latter result,if the vertical depth of said rib is all below the bed of the chair, thesleeper has to be cut into too deep in order to place the chair. Iextend its vertical measure partly above said bed, and addflange-bearings F F, as above described.

I am also aware that railway-chairs have been provided with side flangesto prevent the lateral displacement of the rail, and with a lowerdepending flange to prevent any lateral movement of the chair, the samebeing shown and described in the patent to J. L. Hudson, dated August19, 1873, and hence I make no claim to such construction.

My improved chair differs from the abovereferred-to in the followingparticulars: It has three independent bearings for the edges and centerof the flange of the rail, and,also, it is so constructed that thespikes which hold it in place also hold the rail in the chair.

Having fully described my invention, What have hereunto set my hand this31st day of I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A railway-chair constructed with Vertical sides, which extend above andconstitute side flanges, and provided on its upper surface with centralbearing 0, side bearings F F,

and grooves- B B, and having a lower depending flange, E, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I January, 1878.

isAAo WELL Wit lesses:

A. W. BRIGHT, THos. B. HALL.

